Tag: #SquaresRenew

Think differently!

Today’s post features photos I’ve shown before, but I think the travelling-arrangements shown here deserve another outing on my blog. The rovers in this traditional vardo have renewed their attitude to travel and urge us to do the same: to journey slowly and reflectively, taking time to revitalise their contact with the areas they travel through, and making no negative impact.

To my shame, tomorrow I’m not following their excellent example. I’m off to Spain for a couple of weeks, to offer a hand to my daughter and her family as she returns to work after maternity leave following the birth of a second daughter. And I’m flying to Spain. I’m not pleased about this at all – but however we looked at it, the train journey was just beyond budget.

All my remaining posts for the month have been scheduled: I’m rubbish at posting from my phone – or at any rate in making links. What could possibly go wrong? Each one will be set in Spain, though from some previous visit. And I may be rather slow at responding to comments, or in reading posts from fellow-bloggers. Hasta pronto!

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew Challenge, she’s inviting us to post square – only square – photos on the themes of Burgeoning; Moving Forward; Reconstruction; or Renewal.

New Life?

Apparently not. This nest was made by a young moorhen who then laid her eggs in it, on a quiet corner of the ferry boat which goes to and fro across the lake at Harewood House. This was a fortnight ago. It seems she thought she’d done her job, because she then wandered back to her usual routine of fossicking about in the water and its margins, and has never sat on them at all. Any chance they had of hatching has long gone. Let’s hope this young thing learns better parenting skills before the season’s out.

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew Challenge, she’s inviting us to post square – only square – photos on the themes of Burgeoning; Moving Forward; Reconstruction; or Renewal

Moving Forward? Or Backwards?

Out and about in Brick Lane London, with Sarah of Travel with Me fame, we spotted what seemed to be a film-in-the-making. The actors were moving forward for sure, but for the camera man, it was a different story.

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew Challenge, she’s inviting us to post square – only square – photos on the themes of Burgeoning; Moving Forward; Reconstruction; or Renewal

A Cherry Tree: First the Blossom, Then the Fruit

The feature photo today is of a cherry tree at Studley Royal, near Ripon. It’s known to be at least 325 years old. This is extraordinary. Cherry trees aren’t long-lived. Fifteen to thirty years is usually enough.

This tree though isn’t the star of today’s show. Here’s some cherry blossom from another local site, Swinton Park. It’s definitely past its best – for now. Blossom gone, and with any luck pollinated by early bees, the tree’s energy is focussed on translating the flower into this year’s fruit. It’s moving forward to the next phase. Come late June, we can perhaps enjoy some of those cherries it’s producing.

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew

The Wrong Kind of Renewal

Poor old Ripon Spa Baths. A hundred and twenty years old, and now – quite literally – put out to grass. We have a new Leisure Centre here in town now. These Edwardian baths are now surplus to requirements and up for sale. Meanwhile, doughty seedlings and saplings commandeer cracks in the mortar and gaps in the tiling: putting down roots that will let water in and begin to crumble brickwork.

The header image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Brian Shore.

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew

A Frog He Would a-Wooing Go

Every month, over at Fake Flamenco, Rebecca sets a poetry challenge, and invites her readers to submit a verse on a chosen theme, in a selected poetic form. This month, she’s played into the hands of Becky’s Squares challenge. She’s shared an image of another blogger whom I follow, Britta. It’s the one shown in the header photo: a pair of frogs definitely planning on renewing the blood line.

Here’s my doiditsu (four non-rhyming lines, syllable count 7-7-7-5). Why not join in? You have till tomorrow to submit your entry. The real joy is that Rebecca translates every entry into Spanish : there’s a special thrill in having your own words beautifully re-crafted as a poem in another language.

Bathing in their tiny pond,
frogs are croaking words of love:
dressing up in greenest lace
to tryst, woo, then win.

And – Why not? Let’s make a late entry for Debbie’s Six Word Saturday.